Pirates start strong, but walk away losers in 7-4 series opener vs. Brewers

The Pirates did not start off on the right foot against the Brewers in their weekend series.

The good guys lost 7-4 Friday night against the Brewers.

The Pirates kept the game tight early on with Chase De Jong pitching five innings of two-run ball, which kept the Buccos in it.

Ben Gamel went yard in the second inning off of his former teammate Brandon Woodruff and Gregory Polanco did the same in the sixth to tie the game.

However, the seventh inning spelled disaster for the Pirates in about as bizarre of an inning as you could have asked for.

Clay Holmes entered the game with one out and walked pinch hitter Daniel Robertson, the first walk of the inning. The team walked Daniel Vogelbach two batters later to load the bases, the second walk of the inning.

A Christian Yelich double broke the 2-2 tie and gave the Brewers a 4-2 lead. After Avisail Garcia struck out, Omar Narvaez was intentionally walked, the third walk of the inning. Holmes then walked Willy Adames with the bases loaded, the fourth walk of the inning.

This prompted Derek Shelton to bring in Trevor Cahill with two outs. However, he proceeded to walk Jace Peterson and Jackie Bradley Jr. For those counting at home, that’s the fifth and sixth walks of the inning and four consecutive batters walked.

The Pirates put up a cute comeback attempt when Ke’Bryan Hayes sent one to the seats in the eighth, but the Buccos had no more left in the tank.

To see the Pirates continue to come up with unique ways to lose these games is pretty cool. Now, let’s hope they can find some unique ways to win a few games.

They’ll have their next chance tomorrow at against the Brewers. First pitch is at 4:10 p.m. EST.